Four
__TOC__ Quatre "Four" Wheeler was a human male living in Torlynn during the New Age. Through entirely no fault of his own, he ended up being one of the most significant players in the history of that time period. Four had brown eyes, a slight build, and was not nearly as devastatingly handsome as he believed himself to be. Despite this, he had a thing for the ladies, and what he lacked in natural charisma, he more than made up for with dogged determination. Early Life Four was born around unctual year 3868 in the town of Darkholm, to Roue and Argent Wheeler. He was born into a family with two older siblings, a brother and sister, and he would later have several younger siblings as well—two boys and two girls. One of Four's favorite possessions as a child was a small plush toy named Floopy, made for him by his mother. Four's father was incarcerated when he was young, and his eldest brother succumbed to an illness when Four was thirteen years old. When his youngest siblings got older, his sisters got married and had children, while his brothers ventured into the world to seek their fortune; Four never heard from any of them again. As a child, he was teased and often called Four-Eyes due to the large, thick spectacles he wore. He took the nickname and shortened it to Four, a name that he would continue to use throughout his adult life. Despite having the surname Wheeler, Four was not particularly skilled at the assembly or manufacture of cart wheels. One of Four's most cherished possessions was his worn, rusted, iron dagger, which he'd owned since he was ten years of age. He carried it to look threatening, though he predominantly used it as a tool for carving or preparing food. Another of his most valued belongings was his dragonskin vest, which he had won in a game of xoo around unctual year 3885, and usually wore at all times. He was also armed with hidden glove traps inside his leather gauntlets. The Lost Treasure of Torlynn At 19 years of age, Four came into a small inheritance and decided to invest it in the reconstruction of the old pirate ship once owned by Captain "Peg-Face" Cleaver. As the primary financial contributor to the restoration project, Four technically owned the ship, but he deferred leadership of the expedition to Captain Anselm, who claimed to have far more experience. After Darkholm was attacked by moths, the crew was promised a large payment from King Papillon of Torlynn Castle for the capture and delivery of any aerials they found. Four was content to work aboard the Mermaid's Bliss as a powder monkey, during which time he met Christabel Miller, who had agreed to work on board the ship in place of her drunken father. Four and Christabel quickly became inseparable, a bond that was cemented when Four rescued Christabel after falling off the ship. When the Mermaid's Bliss was attacked by moth warriors, the crew was carried off the ship by the moths and dropped in the Darklands, intenting to kill the humans. Four, recognizing his inability to fight them, played opossum and was left for dead, eventually falling unconscious from his wounds and loss of blood. He was revived by the butterfly princess, who discovered him while foraging for berries. Upon his revival, the butterfly princess asked him, "Mah reh poh sah?" w''hich translates in the butterfly language to "Are you feeling well?" Four believed that she was identifying herself as Mariposa, and would continue to use that name for the butterfly princess. Four quickly fell in love with Mariposa, due in no small part to her tendency to walk around nearly nude, but also because of her quirky, unique outlook and manner of speech. Mariposa agreed to help Four find his way back to Darkholm. After Four insisted on taking a shortcut through a cave, they encountered a ravenous pack of brain-eaters, and Four was forced to administer first aid after Mariposa was stung. After returning to Mariposa's secret forest home for supplies, they discovered that the butterfly people had disappeared. Believing the moths to be responsible, Four and Mariposa traveled to the Golden Desert where they found Christabel being held captive. Four rescued her, but after their reunion, Mariposa grew cold and distant and left the two to fend for themselves. Four and Christabel built a raft to travel to Mermaid Island in order to recover the ''Mermaid's Bliss and attempt to salvage it, and ended up spending several weeks there. They attempted to dislodge the ship by detonating barrels of gunpowder aboard the ship, but the resultant explosion blew a hole in the hull. The sound of the blast alerted Mariposa as well as a clan of forest pixies, who helped themselves to the fermented beverages aboard the ship and, in exchange, repaired the ship. Determined to help Mariposa find her missing people, and suspecting that humans may have been responsible, Four traveled with Mariposa and Christabel to the ruins of Darkholm. After learning that Torlynn Castle had inexplicably waged war against the aerial races, Mariposa urged Four to travel to the castle to learn the true reasons for this seemingly bizarre turn of events. Four took Mariposa to the castle, pretending to have captured her, in order to infiltrate the castle and perhaps discover its connection to the missing butterflies. King Papillon confirmed that he was at war with the Moth People and gladly took Mariposa captive. As an honored guest of the castle, Four was tended to by Deorwynn, the castle chamberlain, who was unabashedly attracted to him and was not shy about her assigned duties to bathe and clothe him. Four learned that Mariposa was scheduled for execution in the castle's tournament arena, and ensured that he was present when she was brought out for her fight against a dragon beetle. Four interfered with the fight when he threw a weapon to her and again when he jumped into the arena and helped her to subdue the beast. He bluffed his way out of the arena by warning King Papillon that Mariposa had an army of tens of thousands of Butterfly People who would attack if the king failed to release them. Four and Mariposa were forcibly escorted from the castle. It was then that Four learned of Mariposa's feelings for him, but also that she had a mate and a child. Having learned that the king was shipping all the gold from the arena proceeds to a location somewhere in the Swordedge Mountains, Four convinced Mariposa to travel to the mountains discover if there was a connection to the war against the aerials. Christabel, meanwhile, had heard rumors about "slaves with wings" living in the mountains and, suspecting a butterfly connection, had rebuilt the Mermaid's Bliss into a dirigible capable of aerial flight in order to travel over the mountain range. It was there that the three discovered Forever the dragon, who had made a deal with the king to accept shipments of gold in exchange for a vial of dragon's blood, which would grant the king, in his failing health, virtual immortality. Forever refused to get involved in mortal affairs, though he did give Four a jeweled sword that he wasn't especially fond of, which Four decided should belong to Mariposa. Forever carried the Mermaid's Bliss back to Torlynn soil, where it finally dawned on Four that the reason Papillon knew and understood the difference between moths and butterflies was because he'd seen them both before. Realizing that the surviving butterflies must have been somewhere in the castle, Four convinced Mariposa to travel to the Golden Desert to seek help from the moths. They were attacked in the air en route, resulting in their capture and the unfortunate destruction of the Mermaid's Bliss. The moth leader, Lord Xarzuss, forcibly extracted the common tongue from Four's mind before addressing them, refusing to cooperate with the butterflies. After Four explained to Xarzuss how Torlynn's king had manipulated the moths into going to war in order to fill the king's pockets, Xarzuss recuctantly agreed to a temporary alliance on the condition that Mariposa surrender herself afterwards. Four and company were successful in reaching King Papillon, who momentarily seized the advantage when he swiped a vial of dragon's blood from Christabel and drank it. When he also took Mariposa's cursed sword, however, a volley of moth arrows pierced the king's body and he fell out of a window. Four accompanied Mariposa to the dungeon, picking the lock and freeing what remained of the butterfly people. With no heir apparent to the throne, Deorwynn suggested that Four become the new ruler of Torlynn. He accepted, appointing Christabel as his aide, who became the Minister of Science. He was initially unsuccessful in persuading Mariposa to live with him in the castle, and was forced to endure her absence for a year, spending the time converting the tournament arena into a habitable forest. He fell into a deep depression following Christabel's death, but shortly thereafter Mariposa returned to the castle and finally accepted Four's proposal, agreeing to live with him as his Queen. The Quest for the World-Breaker During his tenure as King of Torlynn, Four depended heavily upon the input of Deorwynn, who served as his advisor in the country's affairs. Four had forged a treaty with the Moth Dominion in an effort to prevent future incursions to the world of Men. After moths began attacking neighboring towns, however—coupled with the theft of Christabel's unfinished airship, the Butterfly's Flight, from the castle courtyard—Four felt compelled to take action. Despite Deorwynn's protests, Four assembled the Royal Knights, and Knight Captain Brian Devonhyre, and launched a strike against the Golden Desert. During the ensuing battle, Four prepared to engage High Priestess Axziss in melee combat, but he was captured and carried off by her bodyguard, Syxx. Four attacked her in mid-air and they both fell, tumbling into a river that ran through the Swordedge Mountains and carrying them both into an underground cave. Four was knocked unconscious but awakened about a day later inside the cave, with a hungry Syxx contemplating eating him. When the cavern began to fill with water, Four and Syxx agreed to set aside their differences and developed a plan to escape. Though Four couldn't hold his breath long enough to swim the distance on his own, and Syxx was incapable of swimming altogether, they realized that if she periodically breathed air into his mouth while they were still underwater, they could successfully survive the several-mile journey to the river's end. They emerged in the marsh lands many miles away from home, with Syxx nursing a damaged wing. They agreed to travel together and help each other get home. During the journey, Syxx saved Four from dying after ingesting poision mushrooms. Four began to see Syxx not as an enemy moth, but a young and vulnerable woman, albeit one with hostility issues. Syxx and Four parted ways on friendly terms several days later after her wing healed. When Four stumbled upon a clearing in which the stolen Butterfly's Flight had landed for repairs, he boarded the ship and met somebody who looked just like Christabel, but was promptly assaulted by her goblin crewmen, stabbed in the gut, and thrown off the ship. Syxx, who had been drawn by the sounds of the ship's propellers, caught him in mid-air, saving his life again. Syxx revealed that the ship and its crew had been hunting for the scattered pieces of something called the World-Breaker, a terrible and powerful weapon, and that the moths had been searching for the same thing. After Four mentioned being the current King of Torlynn, Syxx became enraged, blaming him for the death of Lord Xarzuss, and flew off angrily. Returning to Torlynn Castle, Four was intercepted by Lady Deorwynn, who informed him that his marriage to Mariposa had been dissolved on the grounds that she was not human. Deorwynn claimed that Mariposa had been relieved and had asked never to see Four again, though this would later be revealed to be part of Deorwynn's deception designed to keep the two apart. When Deorwynn proposed that Four take her as his new wife, Four was aghast at the prospect. Deorwynn threatened to expose Four as a common thief if he refused, but Four stood his ground, renouncing his claim to the throne and storming off. Four made his way to Kingsbridge, just across the border of Torlynn's influence, where he owned some land. He encountered a homeless child who identified herself as Talla Unica. With her parents dead or missing, Four reluctantly agreed to let her travel with him. Along a mountain path en route to Darkholm, Four and Talla discovered the unconscious and nearly-dead body of Syxx, who had been exiled by the moths and deposited on the trail. Four and Talla took Syxx to Darkholm to heal. Four took a job at the Slip Right Inn tavern to pay for the room where Syxx recuperated, while Talla came and went and occasionally brought back herbal remedies to facilitate Syxx's recovery, eventually disappearing altogether. After the innkeeper Erasmus was found with Four's dagger in his back, though, Four was forced to flee with Syxx. They made it to Richmond, where Four and Syxx spent part of the night until being ambushed by a swarm of air snakes. Four was bitten by one of them in the skirmish, but Syxx came to his rescue yet again, drawing the venom. Opting to take a shortcut across the bridge that spanned the Great Divide, they discovered Talla Unica trying to leap—or fly?—across the chasm. Syxx took a dive into the chasm to save her, coming to rest at the bridge and encountering a waiting Brian Devonhyre, who had been traveling with Mariposa. Under orders to keep Four and Mariposa separated, Brian cut the rope bridge with Four still on it, eventually causing Four to fall into the Great Divide. His fall was broken by a gigantic honeycomb and he encountered a heretofore undiscovered race of Bee People, ostensibly an offshoot race of Butterfly People. They gave chase, and a honey-soaked Four was sticky enough to be able to ascend the walls of the chasm until he was rescued by the airship Xanthippe (the renamed Butterfly's Flight) and its captain, Mirabel Miller. Mirabel, the elder sister of Christabel, had arranged for Forever the dragon to bring her the ship, feeling that it was her rightful property. Mirabel was using the ship, and the infant dragon named Baby she kept below decks, to search for pieces of the World-Breaker and invited Four to help her find them. Four, longing for a sense of belonging and a chance to do some good, accepted her proposal. They successfully recovered three of the four pieces of the World-Breaker before a goblin mutiny broke out. Four released Baby in an attempt to quell the uprising, but in the end, the rebellion forced Four and Mirabel aboard the aerial life boat, landing in Torlynn. Four arrived to discover Talla Unica being arrested for the murder of the inkeeper. Thinking quickly, Four confessed to the crime, freeing Talla and allowing himself to be locked away. It had been his intention to pick the lock and rejoin Mirabel, but instead he found himself trapped by a pick-proof lock that he, himself, had commissioned. Deorwynn arrived to demand that he sign legislation that would make her the next heir to the throne, but just then Baby arrived and broke through the cell, freeing Four, and pantomiming gestures that helped Four to realize that she was, in fact, Christabel reborn—that Mirabel had imprisoned her own sister. After the goblins arrived with Xanthippe, Four used the castle trebuchet to propel himself on board the airship to confront Mirabel. She revealed her plans to use the World-Breaker to destroy the Moon, whose orbit had been disrupted and was on a collision course with Earth, and that the final piece was buried beneath Torlynn Castle. Four descended into the depths of the castle where he found the badly-wounded Deorwynn, whose face had been bitten off by the goblins during the initial attack. Making his way to the sub-basement of the castle, he found Mirabel and the final piece of the weapon. Mirabel shot him with a spent breech-loader, expelling the remnants of its shrapnel into his gut, and absconded with the final piece. Baby came to his aid once again, serving as his aerial steed as she gobbled up moth warriors and reuniting him, at long last, with Mariposa. When Four attempted to bring her up to speed about the World-Breaker, Mariposa initiated llenleth so Four could quickly communicate the information. A stray mental blast from Baby hit the two during their mental link, however, creating a telepathic state in which they revealed to each other their secret fantasies: Mariposa secretly wished that Four were dead so that she would no longer have to long for him during his absence; Four wished that Mariposa were human so that the culture gap between them no longer existed. After Syxx sacrified herself to destroy the World-Breaker, Four expressed his concerns to Forever about the fate of Baby. Forever said he would take Baby under his wing, but also said that he would not prolong her existence if she did not wish it. Four was invited to the new butterfly settlement that Mariposa had discovered during her travels. Four felt like an outsider, but he was prepared to accept it as his new home—at least, until Mariposa revealed that he had been invited as a guest only, and that the butterfly king would not permit him to live there. Despondent, Four departed, uncertain of where he would go. The Curse of the Fate Shifter Four wandered aimlessly for thirteen months or more until he wound up in a small town called Guttersworth, outside of Torlynn's borders. After impressing the shopkeeper of the Skeleton's Key with his technical proficiency, he was hired to work at the repair shop. Due in part to his lockpicking experience, he demonstrated a proficiency at understanding and fixing mechanical devices (though he was by the complexity of a pedalmobile). He worked alongside Rouge, with whom he had a less-than-cordial working relationship. When Rouge discovered that her father had gone missing, Four (beleagured by his previous adventures) was at first reluctant to help but eventually agreed to help her search for him. During his investigation, he discovered a wayward moth warrior skulking around the town. When he gave chase, the moth unexpectedly used sorcery to propel itself into the sky and eluded capture. Four encountered a Pixie named Wazzipaloo, who had been sent by Pixie clan leader Nyx to hunt for him. When she explained that she had been sent because Mariposa was looking for him, Four was reluctant to acquiesce and sent her on her way. Later, Four returned to the repair shop to find Rouge, who unbeknownst to Four had been accosted and infiltrated by a brain-eating zom. At first, Four was confused by Rouge's strange behavior, but when the last vestiges of her consciousness broke through and tried to kill him, he was forced to respond in force. Rouge tumbled off a cliff, and the zom escaped her ruined body. Despondent, Four dug Rouge's grave by hand and buried her. Four was then approached by the Ancient One, who offered Four the use of a relic called a fate-shifter to undo some of the tragedy that had befallen him. Four was skeptical at first, but Behind the Scenes Four's name is a silly joke, since it references a type of real-life vehicle that couldn't possibly exist in the neo-medieval setting of the Butterfly Princess novels. His birth name, Quatre, means "four" in French, so his given name still translates to "four wheeler." Naturally, Four's fate will be revealed in the third book, The Curse of the Fate Shifter. Category:Persons Category:Rulers Category:Thieves Category:Humans Category:Pirates Category:Arena Gladiators Category:Main Characters